All 92,000 staff members of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are set to receive a $500 bonus to thank them for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As prices continue to rise with inflation, some wages are also increasing. However, economists aren't predicting the classic wage-price spiral that historically occurs to keep inflation high, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 31. 

Cleveland-based health systems are offering incentive pay to nurses as they face staffing challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to cleveland.com, a news and information website.

Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Hallmark Health Care Solutions is providing hospitals with real-time reports of hourly nurse rates and other healthcare rates, according to an Oct. 21 news release obtained by Becker's.

Confluence Health in Wenatchee, Wash., is investing about $2.62 million in its employees by giving $625 bonuses to those who stayed on the job after the vaccination deadline, KPQ reported Oct. 21.

Nuvance Health reported a net loss of over $130 million last fiscal year while President and CEO John Murphy, MD, took home $12.8 million in fringe benefits, the News-Times reported Oct. 21.

The compensation and benefits package of Nashville General CEO Joseph Webb has been reduced in advance of contract negotiations after his increasing salary raised questions, the Tennessean reported Oct. 20.

A day before planning to picket, union nurses at Springfield, Mass.-based Mercy Medical Center decided on a tentative agreement with parent company Trinity Health. The agreement includes salary increases and a $10,000 retention bonus, the Boston Business Journal reported Oct. 20.

As many nurses and front-line workers go on strike during the staffing crisis, the Washington State Nurses Association laid out several actions Oct. 19 it recommends hospitals take to improve working conditions.

The Medscape Female Physician Compensation Report 2021 published Oct. 15 found male physician specialists earn 33 percent more than female counterparts. 

U.S. hospital and health system workers have been serving nearly two years on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. To recognize these workers, organizations have offered bonus payments during the public health crisis. It has been part of an ongoing effort to retain and recruit employees as hospitals deal with staff shortages and burnout during surges of the virus.

Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System is increasing its minimum wage to $15 an hour, which will affect about 3,000 employees in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Healthcare price transparency is the key to reducing healthcare costs and increasing employee wages, an act President Joe Biden is proposing in a final federal rule, Cynthia Fisher, founder of patientrightsadvocate.org and ViaCord, wrote in Barron's Oct. 14.

Kansas City, Mo.-based St. Luke's Health System is raising its minimum wage to $17.50 an hour and giving all its employees $2,000 "thank you" bonuses, NPR affiliate KCUR reported Oct. 13.

The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas committee released a breakdown Oct. 11 of how they are splitting the State Finance Council's $50 million for hospital nurses.

Bozeman (Mont.) Health is investing $25 million in its employees over the next five years, including a minimum wage increase to $17 an hour that will be implemented Nov. 12.

Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan is giving its employees "thank you bonuses" for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the amount dependent on the number of years they've worked.

Pay increases have become a popular move among health systems as many struggle to retain and recruit employees during the COVID-19 surge.

Avera Health is boosting its minimum wage to $17 per hour, part of a $50 million investment in employee recruitment and retention, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based health system said Oct. 6.

New Lennox, Ill.- based Silver Cross Hospital plans to enhance its rewards program and employee compensation in a move that will affect nearly every employee.